The Sri Lankan Government is reported to have granted approval to the LTTE to clear six tons of equipment to set up a modern Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio broadcasting station in the northern part of the country amidst reports that the guerrillas were preparing for a major propaganda blitz.

Representatives of the LTTE cleared the container load of cargo from the Colombo Port on November 26.

The next day, an armed police team led by an inspector escorted the sealed container load from Colombo to Omanthai, the last check point held by the security forces before entering the guerrilla controlled areas in the north. Army personnel at the check-point had wanted to examine the container when the inspector had objected.

The police officer had produced a letter from Defence Secretary Austin Fernando. Then the trailer carrying the container was permitted to cross over to LTTE-held Omanthai entry point to Wanni on November 27.

The equipment is reported to have arrived in Colombo consigned to the Norwegian Embassy, which in turn, had gifted it to the LTTE.

Thereafter, the government had granted clearance with a duty waiver. Both Norwegian embassy and government officials declined comment.

According to highly placed customs sources, a team of security forces communications experts, backed by representatives from the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, had studied the technical specifications.

They were of the view that the equipment would enable the LTTE to only broadcast on the FM frequency to a limited area though their transmissions could be heavily enhanced through boosters to reach areas outside Sri Lanka.

The cleared equipment included FM transmitter, backup transmitter, MPX Clipper Generator, FM antennas, headphone, patch panel, loudspeaker, microphone, microphone holder, MD recorder, CD player, cables, antenna cables and RDS audio.

The LTTE had originally planned to clear the equipment early to enable their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to make his annual "Maveerar Week" (Heroes Week) address through the new Voice of Tigers radio station. However, procedural formalities had entailed delays.

Reports from the east said the LTTE is making preparations to expand the reach of the Voice of Tigers radio to South India and Singapore.

The LTTE's Arts and Cultural Section head, Puthuvai Ratnathurai, has said that VoT expansion plans for this purpose were ready.

The new VoT radio broadcasting station is to be located in the Wanni.